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Paris in the Nude
by Lilianne Milgrom
September, 2011
During a
quick visit to Paris recently, Lilianne Milgrom sampled the local art
scene, and gives us a sense of The Nude as seen through the eyes of
French artists as well as several transplanted artists who call Paris
their home. |
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Lilianne Milgrom |
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360 degrees in just about any public place in Paris is all it takes for
your eyes to alight on a dizzying array of bared breasts, derrieres and
male genitalia. Not in the flesh, but in the form of statuary,
artworks, graffiti and advertising displays.
Generally speaking, the French are much more
relaxed about nudity in art than their counterparts across the Atlantic.
It is interesting to note that the French language does not
differentiate between nude and naked, two words which in the English
language connote very different meanings.
(As an historical aside, the Republic of
France is symbolized by a fetching maiden by the name of Marianne. Busts
and representations of Marianne of France are to found in every town
hall in every city throughout the country. Although she is not
necessarily represented in the nude, the various sculptors over the
centuries have endowed Marianne with an ever more prominent chest
revealing cleavage that leaves little to the imagination!).
Despite (or perhaps in spite of) the
abundance of classical sculptures, carved façades and grandiose
monuments adorned with naked, writhing bodies, Paris is trying hard to
position itself as a destination for the most esoteric and conceptual
contemporary art being created today. (The annual Monumenta show hosted
at the Grand Palais is a must-see.) This trend has recently caused
France's art establishment to come under fire for turning its back on
the illustrious artistic traditions of the past, firmly founded on
classicism and the academic rigors of drawing.
In the eyes of certain influential French
intellectuals and academics, the time-honored ideals and disciplines of
traditional art are being threatened. Jean Clair, a well-known art
historian, curator and member of the French Academy, recently pulled the
first punch by declaring that "the insularity, self-sufficiency, and
self-satisfaction of contemporary art is an intellectual catastrophe." |
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Graffiti in outer suburb of Paris |
Façade of Le Grand Palais |
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Statue at the Louvre |
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whether art students are indeed turning their backs on traditional
figurative practices, I had a chance to chat with Ralph Petty,
assistant professor at the American University in Paris. An ex-Colorado
country boy who has called Paris his home for over thirty years, Ralph
Petty is also an internationally recognized artist and founder/curator
of the university's fine arts gallery. From his perspective as a
professor, Petty concurs that the nude - and drawing in general - is
fast becoming 'a lost art'. As an arts educator, he firmly believes in
the need to master the foundations of drawing ("just as a musician needs
to know his or her instrument") before exploring whatever direction an
artist wishes to pursue.
Petty's own body of work
fully embraces the figure, with particular emphasis on the female nude.
While wholeheartedly acknowledging the role which male obsession plays
in his interest in the female nude, Petty is a serious student of the
human form. "It is the most complex image that exists – physically,
sensually, and psychologically. Every single pose is different and
presents different challenges." |
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Nasim by Ralph Petty |
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Petty
works directly from the live model in watercolor and oils, and
experiments with partially clothed models, or models in a state of
undress. His earlier influences include impressive mentors from his
California days such as Thiebauld, Diebenkorn and Hassel Smith.
When Petty arrived in Paris, he immersed himself
in Rembrandt and Goya and one can sense the latter's influence on his
latest series entitled Notes from the Underground. These fantastical
scenarios are born from his imagination though they still remain true to
the figurative genre.
Aside from local exhibitions, Petty has shown his work in Russia, Japan and Korea. |
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Fabiola by Ralph Petty |
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Drawing by Tom Byrne |
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I met up with another ex-pat artist, Tom Byrne,
a transplant from Ireland living in Paris since 2003. As an artist
whose primary focus is the figure, Byrne admits that it is as hard to
find a solid collector base in Paris as it is in any other major city.
His experience as a gallerist in Paris corroborates the universal
experience with regards to the nude in art. That is to say, the
nude-themed exhibitions are the most popularly attended shows; however,
the sales are quite dismal.
When he arrived in the City of Lights, Byrne had a hard time finding
life drawing sessions which complied with the level of professionalism
and artistic integrity he was seeking. So what was the next logical step
for Tom? He set out to create a community of likeminded individuals and
has succeeded in establishing a popular ongoing drawing class
which meets his standards. Tom first attended a live model drawing
session as a teenager which he describes as a formative experience,
laying the groundwork for a respectful and mature attitude towards women
in general. Like Petty, Byrne also finds added value in using
clothing as props for the model. "It gives the pose an edge, and seems
to make the model more relaxed." |
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One of Tom's favorite models is Laurence Dugas-Fermon.
Ex-comedienne, writer, artist model and accomplished photographer, Ms.
Dugas-Fermon is very sensitive to her role as both muse and inspiration
to the artists she poses for, talking in terms of the 'nudity of
emotion'. She believes that it is essential to bring real emotion into
every pose. "You cannot allow yourself to be somewhere else – you have
to be there in the present moment" she explains.
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Ms. Dugas-Fermon has been using herself as the subject in a series of
powerful and lyrical photographs. It is through her nude
self-portraiture that Laurence attempts to strip away all artifice,
allowing her hidden emotions to be mined like an archaeological dig.
Love, desire, absence and identity are recurring themes for the
multi-talented Dugas-Fermon. In her work, she explores the notion of
woman as object, and the inevitability of familiarity breeding contempt
in long-term relationships. She is currently engaged in an ongoing
project Jour après Jour (Day after Day), photographing herself on a
daily basis over the course of a year. Her goal is to objectively
experience her own fluid emotions and to capture more than the naked eye
can see.
Dugas-Fermon's photograph 'Take me with you' (below) is one of a
series of photographs following a difficult personal period in the
artist's life. There is no mistaking the vulnerability and pain which
her naked body transmits. "These photographs are a cry" says Laurence. |
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Dugas-Fermon's Take me with you |
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It is easy to forget that the
naked body was for centuries subject to rigidly defined parameters of
acceptable expression. One painting which rocked Paris to its core in
1863 was Olympia, painted by Édouard Manet. I was fortunate enough to
see this magnificent work in person at the Musée d'Orsay's comprehensive Manet retrospective,
the first exhibition of its kind in thirty years. When Olympia was
first exhibited, it was considered so offensive that it was almost
destroyed by a livid public, despite being recognized as a masterpiece
by some members of Paris' more enlightened elite.
What was most shocking to Manet's contemporaries was
the model's direct gaze, identifying her as a high-class prostitute
rather than an idealized goddess. Even before learning of this fact, it
was indeed the model's open and unabashed gaze which stopped me in my
tracks, even more so than the pearly skin tones, beautiful brushwork,
dramatic contrasts and sheer size of the painting. Ironically, her
steady confident gaze seemed to mask her nudity almost as effectively as
her discretely positioned hand. |
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| Manet's Olympia |
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brief visit confirmed that the nude has a robust and thriving presence
in the Parisian art scene both past and present. Even though the
cultural tolerance for artistic nudity in France is high, there are
limits. Take for example the controversy taking place in the Loire
Valley where the community is divided over a proposal to install a
66-foot tall (that's not a typo) statue of a naked woman overlooking a mediaeval abbey.
An exhibition hall was planned to be positioned between her legs…
Something tells me that this wouldn't fly in the United States either!
The fascination to recreate
images of ourselves and, in so doing, to try to fathom the mystery of
our existence is as pervasive in the contemporary art scene as it has
been since prehistoric times. The difficulty which artists face is
succinctly expressed by Ralph Petty. "Given the vast history of
figurative art, the challenge is to find one's own vision of the human
image." This necessarily paves the way for new modes of expression and
experimental media not necessarily founded upon the age-old tradition of
figure drawing. I for one, look forward to discovering new forms of
creative expression inspired by the human body. |
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Copyright 2011, The Great Nude, Inc.
TheGreatNude.tv is produced by Dangerous Media Productions, Inc |
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